Various configurations of dental appliance tubes and posts have been utilized in orthodontics. When installed in a dental patient's mouth, such mating tubes and posts are typically either frictionally maintained together or secured by ligatures so that a post cannot inadvertently become dislodged from its corresponding tube. It is not uncommon, however, for a dental appliance to have a post which becomes dislodged from the corresponding tube that has been secured to the dental patient's teeth. Moreover, such dislodging can be uncomfortable for the dental patient and in some circumstances may cause injury. For example, if such an orthodontic appliance secured by a tube and post becomes dislodged, the dental appliance may bruise the surrounding tissue when it becomes misaligned. Further, if such misalignment happens, for example, at night, the dental patient's orthodontist may be required to resecure the dental appliance at an inconvenient time.
Orthodontic devices secured by ligatures as well as tubes and posts can similarly become dislodged due to, for example, a ligature that fails. Further, orthodontic appliances using ligatures add additional complexity to the installation, maintenance and removal of the orthodontic appliance.
Moreover, substantially any dental patient perceived play or movement of an installed dental appliance may provoke the dental patient to use their tongue to induce such movements. In many cases such induced movements cause the dental appliance to fatigue and ultimately break. Thus, maintaining proper alignment of dental tubes and posts can be problematic even if the dental tubes and posts do not separate, but merely slip with respect to one another.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have a tube and post configuration wherein the post can be seated within the tube in a manner so that it is highly unlikely that the post inadvertently slips within or becomes dislodged from its tube. It would be advantageous if, with proper tools, an orthodontist could straightforwardly remove a post of a dental appliance from its mating tube whenever desirable. It would be advantageous to have a novel tube which could be used together with a conventional post. It would be advantageous to have a novel post which could be used together with a conventional tube. It would be advantageous if the novel tube and post could be manufactured using conventional manufacturing equipment and techniques presently employed to manufacture conventional tubes and posts.